Shadow of a Champion

Chapter 1:Bella Notte (Victoire)

Hey the second chappie! hope it's good Cuppie Cakes!

Maddy  麥迪 - my name in Chinese!

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Enjoy Cuppie Cakes!

Joya's colt is adorable! he belongs to Ivette and his show name is Out Of The Blue but his stable name is Místico. The filly who belongs to Simone who's show name is Dream Chaser and Stable name is Misty. Místico will not be black forever. He is a Lipizzaner and they take a long time to mature. They start off as jet black foals, then as they reach yearlings, they get a muddle of white hairs growing. as they get to about four, they are steel grey. they soon get dapples and when they turn 12 they will be as white as snow.

Rodolfo and the jinetes were already talking about imprinting Hope. I'd have to groom her, getting her used to my touch. I'd teach her to wear a halter, walk beside me and pick up her feet politely. we ate paella for supper at 10:00pm and I sent an email to Stella.

Stella,

Holla! sorry i couldn't go to pony club but hows Guijarro? Is she nipping Sassone? Evie is going out with Leon? I can't wait to come back!But i won't be for a while though :(

I wrote my news about Hope when Alfie interrupted by calling my name. I got up and sighed.What now?

"bring a flash light and dress warm. hurry!" I wondered at this. why was Alfie like this. "oh and bring your halter." i puzzled even more over this. i should of known. a halter? means a horse. 

Simone was outside with a grey Paso Fino stallion. "this is Bella Notte. You can call him Victoire. he is five year old eventer. I want to talk to you about... er... Alexandrine and Daniel." Alexandrine and Daniel were my parents.

"they have already wrote a will before they died.they left you their horses who live with your aunt Amelia and £35 000 in cash in their old house. you can go back to Australian and collect what you have. Take the will with you to prove it. i'll come with you. Alfie! Look after Victoire. Issie, we are going to book our tickets fo tomorrow night." she looked at me, her green eyes bright.

 The flight was okay. 24 hours! i slept most! its summer in spain so when we got australia, it was winter. I collcted my horses and my ponies that i had left to Amelia. i collected evry thing i needed  and a photo album. on my way back to Madrid , i cried. simone understood.

"when we get home, we'll find your horses a loose box. how many stallions geldings or mares?"

"three mares, one french trotter stallion and two geldings. the mares names are Alita, Paris and Blaze. The stallion is called Sunny and the geldings are called Windy and Chance.none are older than 12."

"i thought there would be more but obviously not. it does not matter. the first show of the summer is in Seville, its called la real escuela andaluza del arte escuestre.you could go on Triste? he is a perfect school master.you could win!eh?"

"i'll do it on Triste. whats his show name?"

"Triste Tears."

"sure"

When we got home and unloaded the horses, i was exhausted so i went to bed. i woke up to Nanook licking my toes.yuck. i ran down to see Victoire. i checked the paddock, not there. i checked each stall of the horses.even the foaling stables and mares quarters  i sent Nanook barking to Rodolfo with a note in her weak jaws. I checked on Hope. the filly was drinking her milk.

i checked on all my horses. My pony, a 14.2 h,and welsh, Tango, was eating his bedding again. i made a mental note to put sawdust bedding. i made all the horses feeds and giving Smokey his diet pills.

In the mean time Rodolfo had found Victoire in the back garden. I led him back chuckling quietly.              "you naughty horse. Victoire! stop eating the roses! that's naughty! here is a carrot. that'll keep you busy. stop licking me!" i stroked his face gently. 

I saw a black van parked out side the big gates and when Victoire saw the van, he went mental.i could see the whites of his eyes and he was trembling. then horror struck. he bolted! I yelled at him and he galloped across the land until he reached the wall. there was no way he could jump 2m!

but he did. he soared over the wall in a perfect bascule and landed gracefully on my grass on the other side....

 I screamed in shock, but I was also very stunned. my 16.hh horse! In the mean time, a very skinny , tall man, came out of the black van."little chica,do not be afraid,I'm Ivan Miguel,i wont hurt you. i have a proposition for you. i want Bella Notte. In return you can have two of the colts in my stables, the best. And get Rodolfo.for me." he said with a smirk on his thin lips.

"But Victoire's my horse, you can't take him!"

"Oh, but he's not here, is he?my men have taken him to my Yeguada, Hacienda."

"I've got his papers though. I'll call the policía."

"Los hombres traen Bella Notte atrás ahora! La chica es claramente estúpido!" (A/N Ivan is saying "Men bring Bella Notte back now! The girl is plainly stupid!"x)

"Señor Miguel I can understand Spanish." I grinned, the only reason I was smiling was because I saw one his workers, trotting Victoire back to me. I opened the gate and snatched Victoire's lead rope and closing the gate on Miguel and his men." I led the grey stallion back to his loose box, already tired after the day's events. I needed to tell Simone.